some kind of wonderful
by zulka
Summary: Her mom being divorced is not a problem. Its once she finds someone, that it becomes complicated.
1. Chapter 1

**some kind of wonderful**  
by: zulka  
rating: T  
notes: using Japanese names and this is an AU. Nothing belongs to me.

-x-

She really missed not having a container for sugar. It was unheard of, in her opinion at least. She needed some sugar and getting it right from the bag was annoying. She wondered when it was that she last had a container for sugar. Then she remembered that her mother had broken it, in one of her clumsy moments. She sighed.

Her cereal was already soggy and she wished she didn't have to add sugar to it but in reality she just couldn't handle non-sweet cereal. Her mom hated the sweet stuff, considering her dad had loved it. She had to admit her mom was still bitter about the divorce even though she often remarked how over _it_ she was. She knew it was a complete lie.

"Never get married Hiromi." She had told her last time she had gotten drunk. But her mom was a classy lady, she drank nothing but wine and if she got drunk she got drunk with grace. None of that tacky, tasteless wailing and falling off chairs, nope, definitely not.

As she turned to put back the sugar in the cabinet she sighed, her cat was already investigating the new dark space. "No cat, get out."

The cat merely looked at her before returning to sniffing what was inside the cabinet. She pulled him out on onto the floor, he departed silently after that. She placed the sugar back in its place and looked at her cereal. It really didn't look appealing. Now Takao on the other hand would find it delicious considering he loved soggy cereal. She on the other hand loved it fresh and crisp and crunchy. Shaking her head she ate it anyways. It was gross.

As she walked back to her room, she saw her messy living room. All mementos belonging to her father were in boxes; her mom had donated most of the stuff, and had even burned some of therm. One of the boxes shifted but she paid it no mind, knowing her cat was probably playing inside. Sometimes her cat was a genius, sometimes.

Her mom was not home and she doubted she would come home anytime soon. She was probably off with her girlfriends having a good time in some restaurant. Because as her mom said, she was still young and just because she was a divorcee…well it didn't really _mean_ anything. She knew that it really hurt her mom knowing that her dad left her for someone younger.

There were times when she wondered at her mom's maturity level because at the moment she was acting like a teenage girl and in all honesty that was supposed to be her job! Well, she supposed the household needed a responsible adult.

In any case, she had a paper for English to write, some calculus problems to finish, a chemistry outline to make and some project for marine biology. It wasn't a lot; there were times when she had even more. She looked at the clock and happy with the hour she got to work.

-x-

There were a few things Hiromi noticed the next morning. As usual, Socrates, her cat, woke her up at four thirty in the morning by meowing and biting her feet. There were times when she hated him. As soon as she gave him his food and let him go outside she had gone back to bed. There was nothing wrong with that. She actually did that everyday, even on Saturdays. Her mom could sleep through an earthquake. Not to mention her mom held no warm feelings towards the cat, after all it had been a gift from her father. Figures.

What was unusual that morning, however, was the fact that her mom woke up early and made pancakes. For a moment Hiromi thought the world was ending, or something along those lines, something life-altering. If anything, she was the one that always made her own breakfast. Her mom never cared to eat or wake up early enough, even when her dad was still around.

At the beginning she had missed her dad because no one made pancakes like him. If she was honest, she still did. He sent her emails often enough to keep her happy. He had invited her over once or twice, but she wasn't ready to meet her step-mom. So she had declined, it also didn't help that her mom had thrown a fit when she found out saying how she didn't love her anymore, which of course was ridiculous.

In any case, that morning her mom was happy. There was breakfast on the table. She was surprised to say the least. She wondered what had happened but realized halfway to her musings that she really didn't want to know. She shuddered at the thought of having an even younger step-dad. But then she remembered her mom was classy, she wouldn't degrade herself to that.

But what really made her hair stand on edge was the fact that before she left for school she saw her mom actually acknowledging her cat and petting him. She wondered if she had woken up in an alternate universe. Maybe she still had a dad her and her parents were together. She laughed at her own thought. That was stupid. No amount of hoping could bring them back together.

-x-

The following week was just as bizarre. She really thought she had fallen into some alternate reality. But seeing Takao and Max and how they were still the same made her realize that it just wasn't possible.

"So you're mom is being weird?" Takao raised an eyebrow. Takao didn't know much about parents, having grown up with just his grandpa and his grandpa was one eccentric old man.

"Maybe she finally got over your dad leaving?" Max asked her. Max on the other hand lived with his dad, his parents were divorced as well, except in their case it had been work who had been the cause.

"I guess but it's just so weird. The woman is acting strange, it kind of creeps me out." Hiromi frowned.

"You think she found someone?" Takao asked again as he ate his jello. Man, he loved jello. He loved cafeteria food in general. Who was he kidding, he loved food period.

"I hope not." She answered looking offended.

"No offense Romi, but I think your mom deserves to be happy again. You say that she's been miserable for the past five years. Now that is a long time to be unhappy." Takao told her before continuing to eat his green jello. He pointed to hers and she passed it over to him.

"I agree with Takao, maybe she did find someone. Just hope they don't have kids." Max told her as he watched Takao eat the green jello with something akin to disgust on his face. "Takao you forgot to put mayo on that."

Takao nearly threw up. Hiromi just sighed.

"No kids, yeah I guess, well if they're my age it shouldn't matter. Anyways we are getting ahead of ourselves here. She probably just realized what a waste it is to feel unhappy and is changing for the better."

Takao and Max simply looked at one another, shared at look and then said in unison, "Your mom? We don't think so."

And Hiromi was afraid of that.

-x-

Three weeks later as she washed her plate, her mom almost gave her a heart attack. She almost broke the plate too.

"A dinner?" She knew that her mom had been going on dates, it was obvious from the way she so carefully dressed and the perfume she wore, not to mention she took great care in applying her make-up.

Her mother nodded, happiness radiating of her and making her glow or it could have been the highlighting powder. Hiromi wasn't quite sure.

"Yes, there is someone I want you to meet."

This Hiromi knew, was no good. She thought about bringing her dad up but instead all she said was, "Really?"

"Yes."

'Well,' she thought, 'let's hope he doesn't have kids.'

"I'll need you to set the table for five."

It was then that she nearly dropped the plate.

"Isn't this kind of fast?" She asked but when she turned back she realized her mom was gone.

'Great.'

-x-

The next day found her staring at her closet hopelessly. She was not happy about the way things were turning out. She had spoken with Takao and Max and the first thing they asked was if she was going to move to another school.

She had answered with No. There was no way in hell she was moving, even if she moved into the next county. Besides, she had her doubts about this.

Her closet was a mess. She didn't really feel like dressing up but she figured she at least had to try and look decent; therefore track pants were out of the question. Well, it wasn't like she was trying to impress anyone really. She had set the table already; she had gotten not the nice porcelain set because well—her mom had broken all of them in a fit of rage after the divorce. She figured her mom had imagined them to be the face of her dad's new love interest.

She sighed. She went with a pair of jeans and a nice blouse. Again, she wasn't trying to impress anyone. Takao and Max had told her to tell them what had happened. She had agreed. At the moment she kind of wished Salima was around. But she had to wait another month, before she came back.

Leaving her room, she found Socrates meowing for food. At least she could count on Socrates to be the same and not change.

She realized as she stared t her cat eat, that she was definitely not ready for this. Part of her wanted to flee into her room and not come out and she was about to do that when the doorbell rang.

"Hiromi, please fix your hair." Her mother told her with a shining smile before going to open the door.

She frowned as she ran her hand through her hair. Her moment to escape was gone. Inhaling and exhaling she walked toward the front door. She had never felt more self conscious than when she saw her mother greeting the man on the other side.

Such emotion and affection had once been directed at her father, not at some stranger. A part of her felt hurt and the other well—she wasn't sure what it felt.

"Please come in,"

She wanted to run again, she wanted to tap her shoes together and disappear. Unfortunately she had forgotten to wear her ruby slippers.

She had to admit her mom had good taste; the man that walked in was better looking than her dad, obviously this man aged well. Her dad? Not so much. It was what came behind him that worried her. The little voice inside her head told her not to worry; after all it was just dinner. But like Max and Takao had said, with her mom? She didn't think so. This was real. This dinner was important.

She was so lost in thought she hadn't realized the last two members had entered until her mother called her.

"Hiromi!"

Looking up she was met with all three strangers looking at her, talk about awkward, not the greatest first impression. But to be honest, she couldn't really open her mouth. Though she had to admit the boy was pretty cute.

"Hiromi, I want to introduce you to Susumu Hiwatari and his two children, Kai and Mariam."

"Nice to meet you." She whispered.

-x-

-x-

-x-

**Notes:** Ha. It's been a while. This kind of wrote itself. Now how to work this around…hmmm. Any suggestions? Send them my way. They are welcomed. Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

-x-

-x-

"Susumu, this is my daughter Hiromi."

The man, Susumu, was smiling and she tried, tried really hard to smile back but couldn't. All she wanted to do was run away and lock herself in her room. His children were quiet, the girl, Mariam looked completely bored while the boy simply had a serious expression on his face, and his arms were crossed across his chest. Aside from the initial glance he had given her, he hadn't bothered to look at her again.

Now she understood why Max had said 'no kids.' It was like going to a new school and being the awkward new kid who has no friends and is trying to find some so that they won't look like losers. Everyone knew making new friends at a new school was really hard.

"Well, please come this way. Dinner is ready."

Susumu laughed. The girl leaned in to tell her brother something to which he simply rolled his eyes and shrugged. She stayed right where she was however, she wasn't sure she could move her legs. Actually she wasn't sure she could eat at all. She was a ball of nerves and she couldn't stop thinking how her soon-to-be step-brother was really really cute.

"Hiromi!"

She sighed. She really wanted to bring up her dad, just to be spiteful. After all she had a right to have feelings of resentment, right? She walked into the dining room at the pace of a snail. She wanted to be anywhere but there. She took the only available seat, right next to the boy. Great. Just great.

He said nothing to her and neither did she. It wasn't like it was school where she could lean in and ask a random question like, 'hey do you guys have shared lunch with the 9th graders?' She shook her head at the thought. Stupid.

Her mom was smiling like the sun, and had already started serving the soup and salad. All she wanted to do however was throw up.

"Hiromi you're not vegan still are you?" Snapped out of her thoughts she looked up to see everyone staring at her.

"No mom, I stopped being vegan a year ago. But I am vegetarian and I still buy vegan cosmetic producs."

She knew her mom had stopped listening to her after her first sentence, since she had only smiled and had waved her off. Her dad had been vegan and an exercise freak. That was where she had picked it up from. Though she had never been an exercise freak, she still liked to ride her bike all over town and beyond.

Susumu was simply smiling at their dynamic, the girl still looked bored and the boy—well she couldn't really tell. He had a really good poker face.

"Hiromi I forgot you were vegetarian." Her mom told her after a moment. Of course she was not surprised by this. The woman hardly knew anything about her and her habits. Her dad however knew about anything she did.

She simply looked at her mom and deadpanned, "That's fine mom. I'm not really hungry anyways." She was playing with her soup, she knew it was chicken based. Her mom simply frowned at her, "Lady, I have a backup so don't worry." Lady, she always called her mom Lady, hardly did she call her mom.

Her mother smiled again, "Thank goodness,"

She nodded. Her mom always forgot she didn't eat meat.

"How long have you been vegetarian?" the girl asked her.

"Since I was ten." She answered. The girl's eyes widened, surprised. Most people were surprised when they learned at what age she had stopped eating meat.

"And you were vegan too?"

She nodded, "for three years, I switched back just last year."

The girl seemed mildly impressed. The boy simply looked at her for a moment before staring at the plate her mom had just put in front of him.

She would be in a household full of meat eaters. Not that she minded. She and her dad had always made their own food, and when he was gone she started making her own food since, A: her mom never really cooked. B: the lady always forgot she didn't eat meat, C: she was often on her own.

Apart from the usual i-forgot-you-were-vegetarian scene, dinner went by smoothly. She hardly said anything unless asked directly. Her mom and Susumu made up most of the conversation with the girl talking here and there; she obviously liked to make her opinion known in everything. The boy on the other hand simply listened quietly, saying something here and there. But all she wanted to do was leave.

She was actually very tired of this and to be honest, she never spent a lot of time with her mom. Therefore this was bordering on bizarre for her, and made her feel like she was in an episode of the Twilight Zone.

"Hiromi, why don't you take Kai and Mariam and show them around the house?"

She stared at her mom for a moment before nodding and standing up. Did they really need to know the house?

"Go on kids," Susumu told his own children. The girl got up with a sigh, obviously she didn't want to leave the adults and their conversation. The boy, quiet as ever simply stood up and looked at her. She tried to smile and failed, again. She ended up giving him a frown instead. She couldn't look him in the face, or the eyes for that matter. He was actually really intimidating.

"Well follow me," she told them as she walked out of the dining room.

"That was the dining room, the kitchen is a mess so I'm not gonna take you there. Umm there really isn't much to see."

"I can see that." The girl answered as she looked around. "It looks like you guys are moving or something."

She turned to look at her and caught her brother giving her a disapproving look.

"We're not moving but, most of our things have been donated, sold or burned and what's left is either gonna be donated, sold or burned." She sighed after that. She had saved some things, and even now when her mom wasn't home she looked into the boxes to see what else she wanted to keep. "Why?"

"Mariam."

"Oh don't worry," she told the boy, it was obvious he didn't like his sister's behavior.

"Oh calm down Kai." Mariam told him as she patted him on the arm before looking at her expectantly. She then wondered if Mariam took after their mom, she had to admit the girl was beautiful. Her mom wasn't bad looking but if Mariam took after her mom then that lady must be gorgeous.

"My mom doesn't want anything left from my dad."

"Oh." Mariam was quiet after that.

She simply shrugged.

"In any case, the living room is that way," she pointed to their left as they made their way to the hallway, "there are two bathrooms and four bedrooms." She didn't really went into the hallway, she just pointed to the doors.

"The backyard is this way," They went through the sliding glass door into the patio.

"You have a pool! How awesome!"

"Yeah, we do." She said as she watched Mariam run to the edge of the pool.

"Mariam likes to swim." The boy told her. She had almost forgotten about him.

"And here I thought you didn't speak." She wasn't feeling like a nice person, to be quite honest.

He quirked an eyebrow at her and simply smirked.

"Oh my god! Do you mind if I come and swim here?" Woah, this girl! She wasn't sure what to respond to that, really.

"Not really, I guess its ok." She turned to look at the boy who was frowning. "Don't worry; no one uses the pool anyway. If your sister wants to use it then at least the whole maintenance doesn't go to waste."

He simply shrugged and walked off to join his sister at the edge of the pool. She could hear Mariam's excited chatter and for the first time she heard the boy laugh. She remained by the glass doors. She'd been an only child for the longest time. The thought of having siblings, even step-siblings made her feel weird.

"Ah! I gotta tell dad." She watched her as she rushed to the door, opened it and ran inside. She was unsure of whether she should follow or not. The boy, as she had gotten used to calling him, remained by the edge of the pool.

She sighed as she sat down in one of the lawn chairs. She wasn't sure how to handle all of this. A few seconds later, she heard Mariam's voice and that of Susumu, as they made their way outside. Looking up she found her mother with them. There was something really wrong about that picture.

"Do you see Dad? Isn't it great!"

The boy actually began walking towards them then, shooting his sister another dark look.

Susumu only laughed, "You're going to have to ask Hana for permission Mar."

She knew what her mom would say, something along the lines of: 'Of course it's fine with me!'

"Of course Mariam! It's completely fine with me; you can come anytime you want."

Mariam's smile was dazzling.

"Of course Kai will have to come with you." Susumu added, looking at his older son who simply frowned, obviously he wasn't pleased with the idea.

She watched the whole scene unfold before her. She knew where this was all going and she did not want any part in it. She couldn't wait for all of this to end. She wanted them to leave and go back to their own home so that she could finally call Takao and tell him what happened. She really wished Salima were there.

-x-

-x-

-x-

Notes: Thanks to **dianax23**, thank you so much for taking the time to review. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. Thank you. Yes, Salima will be making an appearance soon.

I don't expect this story to be long. In other news, if you follow the current Moments prompt: 'hellfire', I'm actually thinking of deleting it and posting it as a separate fantasy story. Just a heads up.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

-x-

-x-

As she made her way to her room she heard her mother call behind her, "I forgot to mention this to you earlier but we are having dinner with Susumu next week, on Friday."

She had to swallow the urge to scream.

"Okay." She called after a few minutes, once she was calm enough to breathe. Anything else her mom might have said she ignored as she went into her room and closed the door.

Socrates was lying on the floor, stretched fully on his tummy and asleep. She let herself fall on her bed and closed her eyes. She opened them to stare blankly at the ceiling. She thought of her dad then and grabbing her phone, decided to call him.

-x-

Takao was staring at her incredulously. Max was silently chewing on his sandwich.

"Is his sister cute?" Takao asked.

She sighed exasperated, "Hello! That's not the issue here! Yes, she's actually really pretty! In any case the fact is that my mom is probably going to get remarried and I don't know how I feel about that!"

"Okay fine." Takao grumbled, "Well what did you think of the guy? What was his name Susumu or something?"

She nodded.

"Okay, he doesn't seem like a bad guy and his kids don't seem that bad at all. Maybe you should just give it a try. I mean it's not like you're betraying your dad or something, right Maxy? Unless this is all an act and he's actually evil and even his kids are afraid of him but he has them under some kind of spell!"

She gave him a look that clearly said 'you're stupid.'

"What does your dad say?" Max asked after shaking his head at Takao's unlikely theory.

"Well he said that my mom has a right to have a new lease on life. She has a right to be happy again. Though he was upset I met Susumu before I got to meet his partner." She shrugged.

"Well how do you feel?" Max asked as he spread more Mayo on his sandwich. She and Takao just wrinkled their noses.

"Well, I don't like it. It feels awkward. I feel like I'm leaving my dad, like he won't be my dad anymore if I accept Susumu."

Takao frowned. "You're like gonna have two dads, isn't that kind of better?"

"It doesn't feel better." She muttered.

Max nodded.

"It's not that I don't love my mom, I do but she's like just there. It's like, oh that's my mom. You know? But that's it. There's nothing more to it."

Takao sighed then and began munching on his chips. "Sounds tough."

She rested her head on the palm of her hand. "In any case, we're having dinner at their house this Friday. And his sister is probably gonna be coming over to our house this whole summer if not sooner, to swim in our pool."

"What?" Takao blurted out, chips flying from his mouth.

"Eww," both she and Max said in unison as they leaned away from him.

"But summer is our time. Remember, Salima, Max, me and you said that this summer we would use the pool a lot more!"

She sighed.

"You forgot didn't you!" Takao exclaimed pointing an accusing finger in her direction.

Max shook his head, "Come on Hiromi! We had epic summer plans!"

"I know I know. Besides, I doubt she'll be at my pool every day. That's just bordering on ridiculous."

Max and Takao looked at each other before looking at her with serious expressions. "You're mom would make her go every day."

She knew exactly what they meant.

-x-

The week, she thought, was going too fast. It was already Thursday and the next day would be Friday. She was really dreading this meeting. She wondered then, if the other two were feeling the same thing as her. She found herself actually wanting to ask them, but then recovering her sanity she pushed the thought away.

He mom had been the same way, except a little more excited and happy. But she was still the same. She got up half an hour before work and then left, went out with her friends after work and then got home around 9. She thought she was stupid for thinking her mom would change. She often felt like the lady lived her own life and she was simply an afterthought on good days. When her dad had been around it hadn't been this bad. It was once he left that all hell broke loose.

She sat on her bed flipping through some old photos. Socrates was cleaning himself at her feet.

Hearing a crash in the kitchen startled her but, knowing it was probably her mom who simply dropped something, she went back to her photos. Socrates on the other hand jumped and landed on the floor, as his eyes searched for the noise.

"Oh Socrates, it wasn't even in here." She told him as she laughed at him. There were times when her cat was such a scardy-cat.

She stared at him as he finally settled down and began cleaning his fur again. She yawned and stretched before lying down.

She thought about tomorrow and how she was going to have dinner at a stranger's place. Part of her was dreading the dinner but the other part of her was excited and wanted to go to see the boy again. He was really really cute.

"Argh" she muttered as she sat up again. This was her soon to be step-brother. She couldn't be thinking that way. She groaned in annoyance before flopping back onto the bed.

-x-

The house was two stories, two cities away from them but it only took them about twenty minutes to get there, on the freeway. She knew that it would take longer if they had gone through the streets. Her mom found the address with no trouble at all, which made her think that the lady had been there some time before.

The front of lawn was well kept and the grass was really green. The grass at her house was actually half-dead. She felt a twinge of jealousy at their well kept lawn. Her mother, had once more dressed to impressed. She had simply worn a pair of dark wash jeans and a t-shirt, her hair in a ponytail. Her mom only shook her head when she saw her but said nothing. Maybe she should have tried harder. Oh well, there was always next time.

As they approached the porch the screen door opened to reveal Mariam in a loose orange dress. She had to admit the girl was really pretty. It was no wonder the brother was so pretty too. They were so pretty it sucked. Or maybe she was just jealous. She wasn't sure which one it was. Whatever.

"Oh, hi Hana! Come in! Dad's not home yet but he should be here soon."

"It's nice to see you Mariam. How have you been?"

She almost gagged at the sweetness in her mom's voice. She quirked an eyebrow as she looked at them both. It had only been a couple of days, not even a week.

"Hey Hiromi."

"Hi Mariam."

Perhaps she wasn't trying hard enough. But making friends had always been rather hard for her. As soon as they entered the house a dog began barking. She looked around to find it when it suddenly came in running from the doorway to their right. It was a very cute Chihuahua.

"Stop! Sharkrash! Stop it!" Mariam yelled as she stared at the white and brown Chihuahua.

"Oh how cute," her mother cooed as Mariam picked up the barking dog.

"I'm going to take him outside. You can sit down."

She watched her go through the same doorway the dog had come in. She could hear her yelling at someone. "I told you not to let him in! Kai! Geez. Here put him outside. He has to stay there."

'So it was Kai.' She thought. Not to mention she thought the dog's name was interesting. She had never heard something like that before. Perhaps that was why the little guy was ferocious. She placed her hands in her pocket feeling for her phone.

"Sorry about that. He gets crazy with people he doesn't know." Mariam said as she entered the living room. Kai entered behind her.

"Hi Kai." Her mother greeted. He simply nodded his head in acknowledgement before his eyes came to rest on her. Once more they were unreadable. But he had very nice colored eyes. They weren't green like Mariam's but they were a nice rich brown.

She looked away to the stairs when she realized she had been staring. She felt really stupid and hoped that she wouldn't blush. How embarrassing.

Her mom had began speaking, asking questions, if they needed anything, if she could help with anything. She couldn't help make a weird expression that she noticed Kai caught. In her world, her mom never really asked anything like that. It was mostly, I want this, and I need this and so on and so forth.

"No, we're fine." He answered as the front door opened and in walked Susumu with a bag in his hands.

"I guess I was late to the party." He said as he laughed. "Good to see you Hana, and Hiromi."

Once again, she tried to smile and failed. Perhaps she should stop trying. Mariam simply gave her a strange look. She was probably giving off the impression that she was a bitch. She didn't want the girl to think she didn't like her dad, but it seemed that everything she was doing was giving off the impression that she didn't like any of them. Which of course, was not necessarily true, she simply had mixed feelings about the whole thing.

Her mom quickly stood up, and repeated her question about help to which Susumu simply shook his head. "We can all head to the dining room though." He said.

Mariam followed after them, once more entering their conversation.

She stared at them and then glanced at Kai who was neither looking at her nor at their parents. "Nice to see you again." She said as she stood up.

He turned to look at her then. His face was impassive but she could see that he looked slightly aggravated.

"You have a very nice lawn." She began, but she couldn't help it, "your grass is really green. Ours is half dead and the name your dog has is very original. Who named him?"

He was giving her a strange look, but his eyes held amusement. She wasn't quite sure if he was laughing at her or if he was finding the situation funny. Perhaps it was both.

"Mariam. She likes sharks."

Brief and to the point. She couldn't help but notice that the conversation was about Mariam again. The last time they had spoken was about Mariam and how she liked to swim.

She nodded and smiled before heading to the dining room, Kai right behind her. She could feel herself getting nervous and when she was nervous she talked…a lot. But they reached the table soon enough and she sat on a random chair. Kai sat on the other side, facing her and Mariam was next to him. Her mom was on her right. Susumu was at the head of the table, on her mother's right and Mariam's left.

She stared at the food on the table. She hadn't brought her own food. She figured that might be regarded as rude.

"Hiromi," she looked up to see Susumu standing up and grabbing a plastic box from the counter. "we bought some vegetarian food for you from the store, I hope you don't mind."

"It's okay." She told him as he opened the box and placed the food along with the other things in the middle of the table.

Well, they certainly got brownie points for remembering she was vegetarian.

She watched as everyone served themselves salad and soup, _again_. She wasn't used to having a whole meal course. Usually she would just make the main dish and eat it. It was the way she and her dad made everything or they would just make lots of things and serve themselves a bit of everything. In any case, she only ate the salad. She was distrustful of soups unless she knew what was in it.

"The soup was made with vegetable broth and has no meat." She looked up to see Kai staring at her.

She raised her eyebrows at him and gave him a smirk. He simply shrugged before returning to his food.

She bit her lip as she tried to stop herself from smiling. Grabbing a bowl, she decided to try out the soup. She noticed him smirk.

She tried to ignore his presence, but couldn't. He just had a really strong presence, it was unignorable and that wasn't really a word! She sighed as she focused on her food.

"How is the editing going by the way?" she heard Mariam ask.

She furrowed her eyebrows at the question. How did she know her mom was an editor? She looked at her mom who began to tell Mariam of the newest novel she had received from bestseller Tala Ivanov, whose real name was actually Yuriy. The guy was seeing three time Olympian medalist Julia Fernandez.

"She's competing in these year's Olympics isn't she?" Susumu asked.

Her mother nodded, "Yes, she is. She's going for All-Round gold."

Hiromi played with her salad. Yes, Yuriy or rather Tala. She had met the guy once or twice. He was very, very intimidating. The guy wrote mysteries and horror fiction.

"Isn't he writing a fantasy this time?" she asked without meaning to. Since she hardly spoke most of the time everyone turned to look at her, _again._ She felt like she had grown another head this time or something to that degree.

"Yes, he is. It's somewhat of series; there will be five books in total. He just submitted what is to be the first book. He's been working on this for the past three years actually."

She always marveled at how her mother could turn serious when speaking about her work.

"Is it good?" Mariam asked enthusiastically.

"You don't even read Mar."

Mariam rolled her eyes at her brother and ignoring him looked at her mother again.

"Yes it's very interesting. Do you know his work Kai?"

Kai nodded.

"Hiromi reads his mysteries. She's not a fan of his horror fiction. He's signed a few books for her."

"Oh! That's great. Kai reads him a lot, maybe you could get a book signed for him? His birthday is coming up." Mariam said as she looked at her mom and then at Kai.

She wasn't sure if she should say something or not, though she wasn't too happy about her mother just outright saying she didn't read Yuriy's horror fiction. After all, that somewhat made her look like a scardy-cat. She could imagine Kai reading the horror book though, and preferring them over the mysteries.

"Mariam." Kai said lowly.

"Oh its fine. Yuriy may look scary but he can be a very nice person. Somewhat eccentric but then again, most writers are."

She nodded at that. The guy could be downright scary. She never thought she'd have some things in common with Kai though. She served herself some of the vegetarian food they had bought. Her mother and Susumu began speaking about books and other author's she had meet and discovered. Yuriy always returned to her mom because it was her mom who had discovered him and had helped him establish his writing career. The guy was grateful in a way.

She tasted the food and found that it wasn't that bad.

"Good enough for you?" she heard Kai ask lowly.

Yep, she knew it. They thought she was some stuck-up bitch or something. Looking at him she smiled and nodded before adding, "Mine's better though."

She smirked at him before going back to the food. It wasn't bad but it could use a bit more seasoning. She looked at him again to see him playing with the potatoes on his plate. Someone wasn't hungry.

"Don't like veggies?" she asked before placing a cherry tomato in her mouth.

"Not really." He told her, "I prefer steak."

She resisted the urge to smile and laugh. Figures. He simply shrugged. She shook her head at him and returned to eating her tomatoes. The vibration in her pocket made her jerk a bit. Taking a look at her phone she saw a message from Salima, opening it immediately she smiled as she read the text.

_I'm coming back next week. Around wed. See you soon!_

Thank goodness. Finally she would be able to talk about all the craziness.

-x-

-x-

**Notes**: thank you to my reviewers: GoddessPhoenix3173, kaihil lover, Dead-bY-n0w, and fallenangelx23.  
Did you like Tala as a writer? I love the idea of Tala as a writer lol. I'm imagining Tala with glasses now…hmm. Well let me know what you think. And Salima is coming back, finally. Where was she? I have no clue. She might tell us next chapter. And Kai and Hil? Hehehe.


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